Ten widely held assumptions about organizational change

Set out below are ten widely held assumptions about the nature and leadership of organizational change. These present a neatly packaged view of managers’ ability to plan, organize, and control the process, in ways that promise to deliver the sought-after outcomes with confidence and predictability.

This is an attractive proposition for managers, whose performance is likely to be assessed, in large part, on their ability to deal with the challenges of change.

Attractive. But illusory.

Unhelpfully, these assumptions bear little relationship to the complex social reality (or “wiggliness”) of organization that managers experience every day. Alongside each of these ten assumptions, I’ve therefore offered an alternative perspective. These are based on a wiggly world view of organizational dynamics. And on what I see as the “muddling through” nature of real-world management practice.

The assumptions...

Change only happens when managers say that it should.

WIGGLY REALITY: Change is happening continuously, through people’s ongoing, local (i.e. one-to-one and small-group) interactions. First of all, the tendency is for this self-organizing process to ‘deepen’ the currently dominant patterns of interaction. Paradoxically, change in this sense is in the service of continuity, by providing the sense of everyday predictability that enables people to go on together. At the same time, this process opens up the possibility that new patterns of interaction – and novel outcomes - will emerge spontaneously. That is, that changes will occur which anticipate, respond to, or stimulate the emergence of a different future.

Leading/managing change is a formal, rational, and structured process.

WIGGLY REALITY: Leading/managing change is messy and complex. It is unavoidably power-related and political; heavily conditioned by the shadow conversational themes, customs, and practices that emerge and become taken up by people in their everyday, informal interactions; and channelled imperceptibly down well-trodden (but unconsciously held) pathways of thought, feeling, and action.

Managers can plan, organize and control the change process, in ways that will make sure that the desired performance outcomes will be achieved.

WIGGLY REALITY: Managers are both ‘in control’ (i.e. in charge) and ‘not in control’ at the same time. Within their delegated authority, they can command things to happen in line with formally established structures, systems, and procedures. However, they cannot control the ways in which people perceive, interpret, evaluate, and act upon those ‘commands’. Or how, individually and collectively, they take-up the formal systems etc., in their ongoing, local interactions. Even less can they predict or control what will emerge more broadly, from the widespread interplay of these local interactions, 'within and beyond' the notional organizational boundaries.

There is one best way to lead change. A particular methodology that can be applied in all circumstances.

WIGGLY REALITY: The specific, local context is fundamental to what happens and doesn’t happen in practice. This, too, is an emergent outcome of people’s ongoing interactions. These imprints of their own and others’ past conversations, as currently embodied in their everyday practice and ‘ways of being’, significantly affect the ways in which they continue to make sense of what's going on and how they act in the specific circumstances of the present moment - both consciously and unconsciously.

When planning and implementing organizational change, managers can choose to intervene at any of a number of distinct ‘levels’ (typically spoken of in terms of the individual, the team, and the organization).

WIGGLY REALITY: What we think of as “the organization”, “the team”, or whatever, are sometimes useful – but imaginary - constructs, which reflect the characteristic patterning of people’s ongoing, local interactions. These don’t exist as tangible entities, with the capacity to act (or be acted upon) in some way independently of the local, interactional process through which they are continuously being (re)enacted. Nor, though, do individuals act autonomously, even in situations in which they appear to be working alone. Everybody is both enabled and constrained in everything they do by the actions, inactions, and interactions of everyone else. As Ralph Stacey puts it, the individual is the singular and the group/organization the plural, of interdependent people.

It’s the ‘big things’ – strategies, structures, plans and program(me)s, etc. – that are most critical to achieving a successful outcome.

WIGGLY REALITY: It’s the ‘little things’ – what’s actually happening day-in-day-out, how people make sense of this in their local interactions, and how they find themselves acting in the moment – that determine what happens in practice. Paying attention to these interactional dynamics is where we find the essence of organization.

Leading change is an arms-length, target-and-data-driven process, based on detailed programming; the factual analysis of critical performance measures; and the disciplined application of formal control mechanisms.

WIGGLY REALITY: Leading change is a ‘contact sport’. It is about tuning-in to the conversational themes that are organizing people’s action ‘on the ground’; gaining a visceral understanding of their reactions, feelings, concerns, hopes, and expectations, etc. in relation to what’s going on; helping those involved (including themselves!) to make better sense of what’s happening; and building the relationships needed to mobilize collective action around emerging ideas that are judged to be both credible and organizationally beneficial.

Successful change depends, first and foremost, on the creation and dissemination of a “compelling Vision” – a clear and concise statement of the desired end-state to which people can aspire.

WIGGLY REALITY: Providing vision is much more about helping people to ‘see better’, on a continuing basis. This is a quality of day-to-day leadership practice, rather than the output of a set-piece design process. It involves such things as remaining curious, sharing reflections, exploring assumptions, and surfacing different perspectives in relation to emerging events, situations and activities that people are experiencing in the here and now. Ambition and direction of travel still have an important part to play, of course, as aspects of ‘the future in the present’ that are influencing current practice. “Providing vision” from this perspective, though, is much more about insight than far-sight.

Achieving alignment behind a common and enduring set of values, beliefs, and behaviours (a “strong culture”) is at the heart of effective organizational change.

WIGGLY REALITY: Action and outcomes (including the adoption of the formal trappings of organization) arise from the coalescing of people around particular organizing ‘themes’ that emerge in everyday conversation. This process doesn’t require people to buy into a set of shared values. They only need to agree on the desirability – from their perspective - of achieving a particular outcome. These informal coalitions also tend to be transient and issue-specific, rather than long-standing and all-embracing. Crucially, too, those who decide the intention, nature, and timing of formal change interventions themselves participate in this same, informal-coalitional activity. Mobilization of collective action, in line with official strategies, plans, and program(me)s, is therefore likely to owe more to the effect of power relations, political accommodations, and social networking, etc. than to the ‘unity of purpose’ and shared values implied by the mainstream conception of organizational dynamics. Although some broad, ‘cultural’ assumptions are likely to be widely held within a particular organizational context, these will be part of much more fragmentary and dynamic patterns of interaction and understanding.

Leading change is a rational, scientific endeavour, practised by formally trained, and officially appointed individuals.

WIGGLY REALITY: Like all other aspects of organization, the act of leadership – and its recognition as such - are emergent properties of the complex social dynamics of human interaction. It can be observed in the interactions of anyone, regardless of their formal role and relationships. That is to say, it is a property of people’s practice, as they act in relationship with others, not of their formal position. Nor does it depend on their possession of a prescribed set of personal attributes or leadership ‘competencies’. Seeking to encourage, assist, and enable the widespread development and application of such practice in others is an important element of change leadership for those who are in formal, Leadership-with-a-capital ‘L’ positions (from CEO to the front line).

Ultimately, being decisive and acting with clear intent is the route to successful change.

WIGGLY REALITY: Managers can act with intent but still can’t be sure what will happen in practice. [Which is why this has turned out to be number 11 of “Ten ‘widely held assumptions”!]. Like everyone else, managers act forwards, moment-to-moment, into a continuously emerging and unknowable future. Here, as everywhere, the real-world challenge is one of ‘muddling through’ the complex and uncertain realities of organization (and life!) – whilst seeking to do so with purpose, courage, and skill.